Air Force Academy
New Mexico
Falcons Fall in Three to New Mexico
9/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 29, 2011
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - The Air Force volleyball team dropped a tough 3-0 decision to New Mexico in Mountain West Conference action on Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Academy's East Gym. The Falcons played close with the visiting Lobos, but fell in straight 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 sets.
"We keep having spurts of brilliance," second-year head coach Matt McShane said. "We still have those lulls, but we're learning to play better under pressure."
Sophomore Cami Richan, freshman Kristen Holt and classmate Victoria Foster combined for over half of the Falcons' kills. Richan posted a team-leading six scores, while Holt and Foster each added five. For players that made at least 10 attempts, Holt paced the way with a .167 average, although fellow freshman Brooke Pottle connected on three of four attempts with no errors for a .750 hitting clip. Freshman Hillary Keltner assisted on 15 of the team's 30 kills, while classmate Megan Clary and sophomore Josalynn Wise each added a pair of service aces.
Defensively, junior Maiya Perich collected 12 digs, while Holt and freshman Ayesha Hein both recorded three total blocks. All of Hein's stops were assisted, while Holt recorded one solo and two assisted blocks.
New Mexico jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, bu sophomore Claire Bieber put the Falcons on the board with a kill. Clary posted her first service ace to pull the Falcons' within one. New Mexico jumped out to another lead, but Bieber put down another kill. Trailing 7-3, Air Force rallied to tie the set at eight behind kills from Holt and Keltner, as well as Wise's first ace. An attacking error by the Lobos gave the Falcons the lead, while they maintained by a block from Richan/Holt (10-9) and kills from Clary (11-10) and Bieber (12-11). New Mexico responded with a 4-0 run to go up 15-12, before Hein and Richan added kills to even the score at 15. New Mexico regained the lead on the ensuing point and pushed its advantage up to 21-17. Richan, Holt and Hein added kills, but the Lobos claimed the set by a 25-20 score.
A kill by Hein and an ace from Clary opened the second set for the Falcons, but New Mexico quickly took a 7-4 lead. Despite a kill from Holt and several New Mexico errors, the Lobos doubled up Air Force at the 14-7 mark. Foster and Hein added kills, but Air Force trailed by 10 (20-10). Clary added one more score, but New Mexico took the second set 25-15.
The two squads traded points to start the third set, with Air Force gaining its points by kills from Foster and Richan. Wise's second ace and a kill from Pottle sparked the Falcons to a 10-5 lead. Kills from Holt and Foster saw Air Force double up the Lobos at 12-6. Pottle and Foster each added another kill as the Falcons continued to lead (17-12). New Mexico pulled within two at the 17-16, mark, but Richan put down a kill to stop the Lobos' 4-0 run. Another kill from Pottle put the Falcons at the 20-point mark (20-17) and a score from Holt kept the Falcons up three (21-18). New Mexico evened the set at 22 and, despite a kill from Foster, went on to claim the 25-23 win.
Air Force returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 1, hosting TCU for the final time in conference action. The match, the midway point of the Falcons' homestand, is slated to start at 1 p.m.
